


Waiting for the Sun to Shine

by LouRandom



Category: The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: Feels, Fix-It, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Grief/Mourning, Loki (Marvel) Needs a Hug, Post-Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Thor (Marvel) Needs a Hug, and fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-09
Updated: 2018-06-09
Packaged: 2019-05-20 06:58:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,661
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14889785
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LouRandom/pseuds/LouRandom
Summary: It felt like Ragnarok, only worse. It felt like the sunset of a world destined to plunge into a void of non-existence. It felt like Thor’s whole being was set on fire, it felt like excruciating pain, especially since the last words Thor had said to Loki were,You really are the worst, brother.





	Waiting for the Sun to Shine

**Author's Note:**

> This was done for the [infinitely beautiful artwork](https://twitter.com/ArtisticStephy/status/1005555251808751616)  
> by the AMAZING [Stephanie Rosario](https://twitter.com/ArtisticStephy)
> 
> Check it out, guys, it's too beautiful for words *-* :3
> 
> And of course, this is yet another fix-it because the Asgardian bros deserve this amount of fluff and more<3 Enjoy!

It felt like Ragnarok, only worse. It felt like the sunset of a world destined to plunge into a void of non-existence. It felt like Thor’s whole being was set on fire, it felt like excruciating pain, especially since the last words Thor had said to Loki were,  _ You really are the worst, brother. _

He screamed—or tried to, at least—as Thanos took hold of Loki's neck and snapped it, as the Titan threw Loki's lifeless body to Thor's knees, saying something; but Thor couldn't hear him anymore. He could only see his brother's unmoving body before him, blurred by the tears now clouding Thor's eye. The Titan disappeared along with his henchmen and the metallic constraints holding Thor back fell away. He used the remainder of his strength to crawl towards his brother, praying to any and all powers higher than himself for Loki to still be breathing.

“Brother…”

_ Of course he wasn't breathing. _

“Please don't.” Thor tried in vain to shake him awake, yet Loki lay unmoving. Dead. 

For good this time, it seemed.

Thor's head fell on his brother's chest and he sobbed, overwhelmed by the suffocating feelings of helplessness and defeat. Explosions erupted around the carnage which was once the Asgardians' vessel, but Thor was oblivious to the commotion. The part of the ship he was on began to tremble, and he welcomed the end, cursing his last moments of life and wishing for them to pass quicker. 

_ I assure you, brother, the sun will shine on us again… _

_ Somewhere in Valhalla, _ Thor finished in his mind, before darkness overtook him. 

*

When Loki opened his eyes, he was thoroughly relieved. Despite that, his heart raced and his throat hurt and his eyes widened from the shock of being able to breathe again and to take in his surroundings: a colorful starry cosmic landscape stretched above and around Loki, who found himself lying on something cold and solid. 

A familiar place, one that had once almost become his resting place. With immense effort, Loki stood and turned to face the tree of Yggdrasil, standing shakily on one of its branches. He’d always thought it a metaphorical concept when he was still young and inexperienced in the magical arts. And in a way, it was, the power of its branches stretching, web-like, through the fabrics of space-time and connecting interdimensional portals and pathways. It had a physical form as well, though, which was wont to appear at random times and in random places and exuded a tremendous amount of raw energy, which had already saved Loki after his fall from the Bifrost. And now once again from the wrath of Thanos. 

He had known he was a dead god walking the minute Thanos stepped onto the ship. He had also known it was pointless going up against someone in possession of not one, but two Infinity Stones.  _ There will be no realm, nor barren moon, no crevice where he cannot find you…  _ In the land of the dead, though, Loki had a chance of hiding—and a chance of escaping. The power of Yggdrasil, it seemed, has eased this escape for him once more. It seemed the Norns were far from done with Loki yet. 

Loki sank to his knees and let the exhaustion and the fear seep in. He couldn’t tell how much time had passed in the remaining corners of the world; it could have been a day or ten centuries, for all time dilation was concerned. 

Thor could already be dead. 

Loki found himself clenching his teeth at the thought and it was suddenly hard to breathe. He forced himself to stay calm, to stand up and start constructing a portal out of Yggdrasil’s void. A long journey awaited him.

_ You really are the worst, brother.  _

_ Despite that, _ Loki decided,  _ I would never let you die. _

The sound of a crash resounded over the space around him and Loki's spell concentration shattered. Loki flinched and glanced back at the world tree. Half of it was now overrun with the dark energy, a sure sign of mass death and destruction. 

He did it.

Months of torture by Thanos, which had seemed like decades at the time, allowed Loki to hear of the Titan's truly devastating plan: eliminate half the universe in a desperate attempt to balance it. 

Stupidity. Cruelty. Madness. 

Loki stood and waited, and once enough time had passed for Loki to be sure Thanos’ gauntlet wouldn’t destroy him, he stepped through his portal with one goal in mind.

_ I need to find Thor.  _

*

When Thor had opened his eyes in the rabbit's spaceship, he couldn't help but feel a pang of disappointment at his survival. Memories washing over him seemed to physically pain him. He had lost a lot, too much, and he was sure he wouldn’t be able to go on.

When he had heard of Thanos' plans from Gamora, Thor realized, albeit reluctantly, that there were still trillions in the universe in need of saving and standing by was not an option. He had to try, and he would succeed.  

When Rocket had reminded him, once again, of the scale of his loss, Thor was unsure about what to feel. In fact, as he talked about rage and grief's motivating power, as he talked about his victories and his superficial hope… Thor felt nothing. And it should have scared him, but fear, it seemed, was yet another emotion now dulled within him. It was a strange condition, but comfortable. No rogue emotions to distract Thor from his goal.

When he had felt the force of the star passing through each and every fiber of his being, Thor half-hoped it would kill him; instead, it gave him unimaginable power and, finally, a means to kill Thanos. 

When he had cleaved the axe through Thanos' flesh, seeing the pain in the Titan's eyes awakened an ugly yet pleasurable feeling inside Thor, one he could not quite name, yet it lasted a moment just before everything was lost.

Afterwards, Thor wanted nothing else but to sink to his knees and cry out his anguish. He wished to let unshed tears finally fall. He wished to retreat into a cave and die in peace, hopefully to awaken in a faraway land far enough away from worldly concerns. 

Instead, Thor helped the wounded and took care of immediate concerns in the now kingless Wakanda. He ventured out to repair the damage that mass disappearances had caused and took part in the Avengers meeting on how to begin rectifying this mess and on where Tony could be. It was, however, a mostly silent affair. 

By the end of the day, Thor was too exhausted to do anything but stumble into his quarters, throw Stormbreaker on the ground and sink to the floor himself, leaning his back against the wall and covering his face with his hands. 

_ What more could I lose? _

His real eye prickled dangerously, but Thor knew better than to let the pent-up frustration loose. Tomorrow would be another hard day. Even in the face of total defeat, he could not afford to be weak.

_ I'm sorry, brother, _ Thor thought as shadows of sleep enveloped him, _ I couldn't kill him for you. _

*

Thor didn't know how much he had slept before a pair of cold hands on his forearms had awakened him.

He blinked his eyes open and came face to face with a ghost. Its face marred by a few scratches. A deep red cut beneath its lips. Red eyes, dark shadows under them. A hollow smile. 

“Please, leave me,” he begged, growing tense and trying to shake free of the phantom’s hands. Its grip became even tighter, though, and the hallucination persisted, maintaining the veneer of tangibility as it moved its hands to Thor's shoulders. 

“You don't mean that, do you, brother?” Loki's image said in reply, and slowly stood, dragging Thor up as well, leading him to the window which opened to a view of a landing platform near the Wakandan palace. 

A huge, round spaceship levitated above the platform, and Thor could see Tony scuffling around, greeting the rest of the Avengers, looking every bit as exhausted and broken as the rest of them. There seemed to be no one with him. Where has he been this whole time?

“I stumbled upon him and one of Thanos' reformed daughters on Titan,” Loki’s voice said, “there were others, but only the two of them survived.”

The realization struck Thor a bit late, and he turned towards his brother.

“You're… here.”

In an instant, Thor was hugging Loki to himself as if intending to never let go, as if he were a kid again, embracing Frigga tightly to find solace from a disturbing nightmare. Tears fell, unbidden yet uncontrollable, and Thor felt Loki's light sobs as well as he hugged Thor back. 

“Yes, Thor,” Loki breathed, “I'm here.”

“I'm so sorry, brother,” Thor started. “I couldn't… you… he…. How?”

There were many things left unsaid and even more questions unanswered, yet Thor would need time before he could manage to articulate anything properly. He tried once more, though, moving back a little to look into Loki's eyes.

“How did you survive?”

“I didn't plan it,” Loki said, then shrugged. “In a sense.” 

Thor was already shaking his head no. “I don't care.”

“A miracle. One that's happened before… the World Tree works in mysterious ways, ones that I still cannot comprehend,” Loki explained, looking out the window behind him. 

The dawn was starting, its warm light washing over Loki’s face as he smiled. Thor, too, felt himself grinning, giddy beyond measure. He turned to face the rising sun as well, and the two of them stood in silence, bathing in the golden glow until a knock sounded on the door. A call for assembly. 

“I told you, brother,” Loki whispered then, before they left the room, “that the sun would shine on us again.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading!:3 Leave a comment if you enjoyed the fic and  
> find me still yelling about Infinity War on Twitter [@LouiseOfAsgard](https://twitter.com/LouiseOfAsgard)


End file.
